(4th LD) Presidential candidacy merger negotiations between PPP’s Kim, Han collapse

(ATTN: RECASTS headline, lead; UPDATES throughout)
By Yi Wonju

SEOUL, May 9 (Yonhap) — Negotiations over merging the presidential candidacies of Kim Moon-soo of the People Power Party (PPP) and former Prime Minister Han Duck-soo collapsed Friday, deepening internal divisions within the conservative bloc just weeks before the June 3 election.

The breakdown came as a Seoul court dismissed Kim’s petition challenging the party leadership’s push to merge his campaign with Han’s, while PPP lawmakers agreed to hand over full authority to the party leadership to possibly reselect the its presidential candidate.

Earlier in the day, Kim and the PPP’s interim leadership clashed again on a move to merge the former labor minister’s campaign with Han, who is currently an independent candidate.

“The forced merger pushed by the party leadership is nothing more than an attempt to remove me and make an independent candidate the party’s presidential nominee,” Kim told a meeting with PPP lawmakers. “I cannot accept this.”

It was the first time that Kim attended such a meeting since he won the party’s nomination earlier this month.

In response, PPP interim leader Kwon Young-se expressed disappointment over Kim’s remarks, saying a “true leader, especially one aspiring to become a great leader, must be willing to sacrifice his personal interests.”

The polls came as Kim has demanded the PPP’s leadership stop forcing him to unify his candidacy with Han, an independent preliminary presidential candidate, demonstrating a growing rift within the conservative party with the presidential election just 25 days away.

Kim and Han held their second round of talks Thursday to try to unify their candidacies, but the talks ended without an agreement.

The June 3 presidential election is being held to pick a successor to ousted President Yoon Suk Yeol over his failed martial law bid, with the PPP still divided over its stance about Yoon’s ouster.

The opinion polls will be based on a combination of 50 percent party member votes and 50 percent public opinion polling.

Amid ongoing tensions, Kim canceled his campaign stops in the southeastern cities of Daegu and Busan, and is likely to focus on response measures to the PPP leadership and Han’s push for the merger.

Since being selected as the presidential candidate, Kim has been at odds with the party leadership, which has been pushing him to unify his campaign with Han.

Han has insisted that the merger be finalized by May 11 to ensure that one of them can run as the PPP candidate without dividing the conservative votes to better counter Democratic Party candidate Lee Jae-myung, who is leading opinion polls.

Han said he will not register for the presidential race if there is no agreement with the PPP on unifying candidacies.

Kim, however, proposed that he and Han each campaign for a week, before holding a televised debate and public opinion polls to decide on the candidacy next week.

Late Friday, Kim and Han’s campaign representatives held two additional rounds of negotiations on potentially unifying their presidential candidacies, but the talks collapsed over a disagreement on terms over polling.

This followed after the Seoul Southern District Court dismissed Kim’s petition seeking recognition of his candidacy status and prevention of the PPP’s pressure to merge with Han.

During their general assembly, PPP lawmakers resolved to delegate all authority to the party leadership, including the power to decide whether to reselect its presidential candidate.

julesyi@yna.co.kr
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